Remember this picture every single time you hear someone in your city say "we're not Amsterdam."
This was #Amsterdam in the 1970s, via @fietsprofessor.
The cities we admire made better choices regarding cars, and are still making them today.
Better choices instead of excuses.
@BrentToderian If we want more bike-centric cities, we need better ways to hold cyclists accountable. We also need better formalised ettiquette than "you just get on with it".
Being unregistered means that a lot of violations that are unsafe or create inaccessible situations (inconsiderate parking) happen, because there is no danger for the dangerous / inconsiderate rider and people are fundametally selfish in mass environments.
"Just add bikes" isn't the solution everyone wants it to be, and that important part of the infrastructure - *how* people use them isn't considered.
I live where bikes litter the streets and cyclists are the most inconsiderate road users. As a primarily pedestrian / public transit user, I should reinforce that I'm not defending cars.
But cyclists seem to think that lining up their bikes along a sidewalk that is only just wide enough for the length of a bike is acceptable, because the store they are visiting is right there. They don't expect, like drivers, to *have* to find a parking spot. They don't expect that red lights should apply to them, and frequently ride out into intersections.
@noirlover Just straight nah or qualified nah?
I'm just trying to get at the idea that "just more bikes" isn't a panacea, and peope also need to adapt to moving differently through cities as much as cities need to make it easier to move through them in more sustainable ways.
@noirlover I'm not worried that bikes take up space, nor unconcerned that cars do
I live in a city often cited as great because of bike ridership and infrastructure
I've yet to see a car driver drive right up to the entrance of a business and park on the sidewalk, preventing pedestrians from using the sidewalk when there is an open parking spot at the end of the block. Cyclists do that kind of thing *all* the time.
I'm concerned that greatly increasing bike use and presence in cities without changing our attitude and still acting like they're rare enough to be inconsequential, leaves quite some room for improvement
@noirlover you seem dismissive to me, sorry if I'm reading that wrong, but I've tried to clarify: I'm not complaining about bikes.
I'm concerned that treating "increasing bike use" as the goal can have the unintended impact of making cities less accessible unless done in coordination with re-evaluating how we all - cyclists and non-cyclists - relate to bikes in urban environments.
Brent Toderian
Loops 🍑 
Noir Lover